Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
½ onion chopped
Nature's Seasons seasoning blend
¼ cup butter
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cans chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups egg noodles (or homemade egg noodles, recipe below)
½ cup cream*
Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken breasts in crock-pot and season with salt and pepper.  Cook on high for 3 - 5 hours (chicken can be frozen, just needs to be cooked longer).  Remove from crock-pot and shred.

Peel and chop carrots, celery and onion.  Generously sprinkle with Nature's Seasonings and sauté in butter until soft, but still firm. Add flour. Cook, stirring until golden brown. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil; add bay leaf, and egg noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add vegetables, shredded chicken and cream; simmer for 15 more minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

*can use half and half or evaporated milk, just isn't as creamy, obviously.

Homemade Egg Noodles

1 egg, beaten
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. milk
1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)

Mix all ingredients together, divide into balls, coat with flour and roll out thin (or use a pasta roller). Use a pizza cutter to cut into small strips and pull apart.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these for my older brother's birthday party last night and they were a HUGE hit!  It makes a large batch, which was a really good thing.  My husband even deemed them "extraordinary."  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  It was rated 4 1/2 stars and had been rated 7,128 times, so I figured it must be good...and it is!  As a side note, I always bake my cookies for a minute or two under what the recipe says to ensure truly soft cookies.  Enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 12 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes Servings: 72

"Here's an Allrecipes classic and much-loved chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses instant pudding mix in the batter."

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups butter, softened 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla

pudding mix 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Easy, Delicious Fruit Salad

Ingredients

• 1 (29 ounce) cans peach slices, undrained
• 1 (20 ounce) cans pineapple chunks, undrained
• 1 (3 1/8 ounce) boxes dry vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 lb strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 bunch grapes (I used green)
  (Supplement with whatever fruit you like/have on hand. I prefer to leave out the blueberries and add oranges instead. I also added apple chunks.)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine peach juice, pineapple juice, and vanilla pudding mix.
2. Mix well until pudding is dissolved.
3. Pour desired amount of pudding sauce over fruit and stir.
4. Chill.

Katie Noel's Cheese Fondue

2 cups chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp garlic powder

4 C (1 lb) Swiss cheese, shredded

3 T cornstarch

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 loaf french bread, toasted.

Do not boil. Heat 1 3/4 c bouillon and garlic until hot. Add cheese, stirring constantly till melted. Cheese may not thoroughly combine with liquid.

In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch, salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and nutmeg with 1/4 cup cold bouillon. Stir into cheese mixture. When cornstarch is added, cheese will combine with liquid for smooth blend. Continue heating and stirring until smooth. Serve from fondue pot with cubes of toasted french bread.

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food coloring and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Pour batter into pan. This recipe makes more than a regular cake recipe so you can either do 2 9" pans or a 9x13 and then have some left over for a few cupcakes (that's usually what I do). Bake for 35-40 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 pound butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, slowly add sugar. Add vanilla.

Or...


1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar 

I can't remember which one I use...

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Source: ldsliving.com

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe from Nestle via ourbestbites.com

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white granulated sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)
1 C chopped pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must! I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn’t really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

*There have been several comments about pies turning out runny. First and foremost, follow the instructions, completely (no margarine or anything from a tub!) I’ve made a million of these and never had that happen so I have no idea. The recipe is correct as written, it comes straight fromNestle!